Long Distance
by yoyshaia-chan
Summary: When Sasuke moves away to pursue his career it means leaving behind the woman he loves. Now Sakura has to deal with the physical distance between herself and a boyfriend who wasn't emotionally close to begin with.
1. Opportunities

**_I haven't written anything in a while, but this idea came to me and I felt all inspired, so here's the first chapter! Hope someone out there enjoys it!_**

**Long Distance**

1. Opportunities

I'd like to get something straight from the start here: I'm not clingy. I'm not one of those needy girlfriends, I don't jealously grab onto my man's arm as soon as he so much as looks at another female, in fact I don't even mind if he talks to members of the fairer sex.

Case in point, I was out on a date with Sasuke, dinner at a swanky restaurant, and had just gone to the bathroom – I buy cheap lipstick and it needs constant re-application – when I got back to find him chatting with the waitress. She was pretty, tall and thin with glossy brown hair and very even features, and when I sat down she flashed him one last smile and left. Didn't bother me.

"Nice hair," I commented, watching a little enviously as she vanished into the kitchen. I'd kill for hair with a little life in it, my own bizarrely coloured mane lies limp without hours of careful treatment.

Sasuke shrugged in response, "I suppose. I ordered for you, roast lamb. I meant to ask, is that lipstick new?"

"Actually, yes," I grinned, "Good spot. They didn't have my regular colour, so this one is a few shades off."

And this is why I don't feel threatened by other girls. Sasuke's far too busy paying attention to me to have time for flirting with other people.

"I like it. How was your day?"

"Oh, not too bad..."

I launched into an overview of my day, only giving him the highlights. I'm a medical student, which is totally exhausting and equally fascinating – but only for me! Sasuke liked to hear about any interesting medical developments I came across, and didn't mind me going off on stories of the stranger cases we heard about, but when I started talking in jargon his eyes tended to glaze over.

"Ino was telling me about some woman who apparently got into a fight with her husband and ended up with a knife sticking out of her head, but the angle it had gone in meant, believe it or not, that it was basically a flesh wound. It didn't so much as touch her brain, no neurological damage, no need for any treatment really apart from a bandage and some painkillers. Bizarre, right?"

Sasuke just gave a single nod, to anyone else he would probably look disinterested but I'd known him long enough to interpret the slight twitch in one eyebrow – he was curious, but slightly sceptical – and the way he shifted forwards in his chair – he'd be open to hearing more about that particular story – and even the way his eyes narrowed a little at the mention of Ino's name – he'd never been my loud-mouthed friend's biggest fan.

I dredged up some statistics about similar cases and we talked about freak accidents for a while until the food came, when I decided it was time to let him do some talking.

"Okay, so how was your day? Work going well?"

I got the same nod from the end of my knife attack story, but this time the set of his mouth told me that he had something to tell me that he wasn't looking forward to saying.

"What's up?" I tilted my head to one side, looking for eye contact, but he stared resolutely at the plate of food in front of him. I had one more go, "did something happen today? Is your dad okay?"

"My father's fine," Sasuke replied, then hesitated.

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

I didn't respond to that. Sometimes the best way to draw Sasuke out of his shell is to back off and let him figure out what he wants to say on his own. A minute or so of silent eating passed, and then, sure enough, Sasuke opened his mouth again.

"I was offered what is essentially a promotion."

A massive smile spread across my face, "That's fantastic! Wow, you've only been working there a year and a half, and I thought you said your dad would be reluctant to promote you? You must have really impressed him!"

"Hm."

My smile faded a little as I realised that he wasn't finished, "What? What's the downside?"

"It involves a transfer. I have to move up North. I would be working with an offshoot of Uchiha industries, the branch run by Orochimaru," he looked up then, finally making eye contact in an effort to gauge my reaction to the news, "it's a position with far more potential for growth, and Orochimaru doesn't have to worry about being accused of favouritism if he pushes me up the ranks. A year there, and if I make the most of it I can come back to my father's company several rungs higher on the corporate ladder."

"Sounds great," I said faintly, "I take it you've accepted?"

"Yes."

"When did you decide?"

"As soon as father offered it to me, this morning. That's why I wanted to take you out this evening."

Like I said earlier, I'm not clingy, so I played the supportive girlfriend, called for a bottle of champagne and toasted Sasuke's success. We finished dinner, and when Sasuke dropped me off outside my house I told him I loved him and how proud I was. Then I went inside and cried for four hours.

The next morning dawned, bright and shiny, and Ino was kind enough to wake me up with a cup of coffee.

"Three sugars, because after last night you probably need it," she announced as she burst into my room.

"Thanks," I took the mug gratefully, "I hope I didn't keep you up."

"Pfft, nah," Ino waved a hand dismissively, "it's easier to sleep through crying than snoring, you did me a favour by staying up to sob."

"I don't snore."

Ino let out a laugh, "Uh, yes, you do. But I put up with you anyway."

I rolled my eyes and set to drinking my coffee, it was amazing – Ino makes the best hot drinks.

After a couple of sips Ino spoke up again, "I thought about coming in to see you, but I wasn't sure if you'd want me to."

A quick shake of the head, "No, I was fine. Sasuke had some big news and I was processing it."

"That was some serious processing then," Ino shifted closer on the bed, "so what was the news?"

Trying to sound as casual as possible, I accompanied my answer with a nonchalant shrug, "Oh, he's moving to he opposite end of the country for work. Nothing really."

A glance at my friend revealed that her jaw was quite literally hanging open. As the silence stretched out I gave another shrug, "It doesn't have to be a big deal."

"It totally does!" Ino practically shrieked, causing me to flinch and spill coffee all over my duvet.

"Thanks. No really," I sighed, setting the mug down on my bedside table and getting up for some tissue.

"Seriously? He's seriously moving? Are you guys going to break up?"

"What? No!" I grabbed the tissues off my chest of drawers and came back to dab ineffectually at the spreading coffee, "We're going to stay together. It'll just be a long distance relationship for a little while, no biggie."

"No biggie? How long's he going to be gone?"

"A year, maybe two – would it kill you to help me out with this spill?"

Ino sprung off the bed, waving me aside so that she could pull the duvet cover off, "You can't pretend this isn't going to be a problem. A year? Maybe _two?_ That's huge. Did you guys talk about it?"

I trailed after her as she frogmarched my bedding through to the kitchen, cramming it into our tiny washing machine, and was unable to keep a slight hint of resentment out of my voice when I answered her question. "No. There was no discussion, he kind of presented it to me as a done deal."

Even though I couldn't see her face I could practically hear Ino's raised eyebrow in the tone of her voice, "For most people that would be a dumping offence, right there."

"Well I'm not most people," I replied, "we'll be fine. We've been together four years, if we can't stay together despite a little distance then... Well, we will. We'll stay together. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Or," Ino answered as she turned around, "absence makes the fond heart wander. Do you trust him?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you trust yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ino shrugged, kicked the washing machine door closed and set it going. "Just that he's not exactly Mr Warm-and-Cuddly when he's around, think how much worse it'll be when all you get is his voice."

"You're saying, what, that you think I'll go crazy and seek out the nearest warm body?"

"No, and don't get so pissy with me. I'm just saying that you need to think about what you need and what you'll be getting, and how big the difference is between the two."

I shook my head, "Thanks, but I'm not you."

There was a moment of silence, then Ino laughed, breaking the tension between us, "Are you calling me some kind of slut?"

"No!" I said, suddenly realising the implication, "Wow, no, I didn't mean that. Just that, well, I know you're pretty touchy-feely with your boyfriends. Always holding hands, snuggling up on the sofa, leaning on each other... If you had to go without that suddenly it'd be hard."

"Yeah," Ino said pointedly, "I don't see the point in a relationship where you don't have any of that."

I didn't have a response to that. It was familiar ground for me and Ino, she didn't understand why I was happy to be with somebody who didn't like hugs, who thought that long make-out sessions were juvenile and a waste of time. Sasuke would rather talk, and to be honest my intensive studies often left me so tired that I was more than okay with that. Just as Ino was baffled by my relationship, I couldn't for the life of me figure out how she, on the same course as me, had enough energy to stay up all night snogging her latest conquest.

Feeling deflated, I trailed back to my bedroom, snatching my up my coffee and draining what was left of it in a single gulp. Cold, yes, but full of sugary goodness. Ino had followed me back down the hallway, and I turned to her with a grin.

"Right, what do you say we head to the library for some super-fun study time?"

She pursed her lips thoughtfully, "I'm supposed to be meeting someone, but," she shook her head, "screw it, give me a minute and I'll be ready."

"Cool," I watched her bounce back down the corridor and then turned to my own room. Clothes – tight blue jeans with a loose white shirt, my favourite study outfit – bag – keys, purse, phone – and a quick trip to the bathroom to scrub my face and brush my teeth, I was good to go in twenty minutes. Ino, changing her outfit six times and meticulously doing her hair and make-up, took almost half an hour longer than me, but eventually we were out the door and on our way to the library.

It was only once we were actually walking that I thought to turn my phone on, and I'm not even going to try to deny that I was hoping for a text from Sasuke. I had one, actually, a short but, by his standards, fairly sweet message thanking me for being so supportive over his new job.

"No apology, I notice," Ino commented, reading over my shoulder.

"You have to read between the lines with Sasuke."

She flicked her long blonde hair and snorted, a summary dismissal from Miss Yamanaka. "And who's the other text from?"

I flicked back to my inbox, eyes tracing the name attached to my other unread message. "Naruto, apparently."

"Who?"

I had to think back a little myself to answer that one. I knew he was Sasuke's oldest friend, and did vaguely remember him from school myself – but then again our town wasn't exactly enormous, with only two schools you were likely to have been in at least one class with 50% of the people your age you came across – but it took me a little while to figure out why he had my number.

Then it hit me, "Oh yeah... Do you remember that surprise party we threw for Sasuke's 20th?"

"Uh-huh," a smirk spread across Ino's face and I swung my bag at her to bring her back to the conversation.

"I know, you and the stripper, let's not go there again. The point is, Naruto got my number to ask me to help me organise it."

"Cool. So what did he say?"

"Nothing much, just saying that Sasuke told him about the promotion and he hopes I'm okay. And it'd be nice to catch up sometime... Sasuke probably asked him to check up on me."

"How sweet," Ino said with mock delight, "rather than call you himself he sent his best friend, who by the way barely knows you, to check how you're doing! What a gent."

Quick tip for you, the worst thing you can ever do when Ino's winding you up is admit she's right. You can't even admit she's _partly_ right, if you do she will never ever shut up. Which is why, even though I half agreed with her, I gave her another whack with my bag and told her to keep out of it.

"I'll call him later," I said with a sigh as Ino rubbed her arm, "in the meantime let's forget about Sasuke and his new job and get on with some work, okay? I just don't want to think about... I want to take my mind off things."

"Sure," Ino replied easily, linking arms with me, "I'll stop bitching about your boyfriend for a while."

It was as close as I was going to get.


	2. Reintroductions

**_What's that I see on the horizon? Ohyeah! Chapter two. I should have been revising for most of the time I spent writing this chapter (in fact, that will be true about most of the chapters I post for the next two months, assuming the story goes on that long), but hey - everyone needs a break sometimes, right? Right. Anyway, quick thank you to all my new subscribers and fave-ers, it's always really nice to know that the first chapter has captured people's interest. But a special thank you to the reviewers so far; _hatakevan, charles cdv _and _dbzgtfan2004_. And heck, why not, even _Too Lazy_ for your... constructive (?) criticism. Now, without further ado..._**

**Long Distance**

2. Reintroductions**  
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I dropped Sasuke off at the train station when he left two weeks later. He'd sent his stuff ahead of him in a van, and just like that, he was gone. I got a text from him that evening to say that he was there, but too tired to talk, and in the following days I threw myself into studying to keep my mind off the fact that he wasn't there.

Then the weekend came, and Saturday night – which I'd spent with Sasuke every week bar maybe two for the last couple of years – loomed overhead. Unfortunately Ino wasn't free, some new guy was taking up all her time and most of the food in our cupboards, so rather than sit around at home I decided to head out and hope that some kind of inspiration struck.

Deliberately choosing to turn down roads I didn't know or hadn't taken in a while meant that pretty soon I was out of the most familiar area of town. Still, the further I walked the more the buildings tugged at my memory. It wasn't that mysterious, I knew there wasn't likely to be a single part of town that I hadn't visited at least once, but still it felt like a more important association.

Then I saw something else that jogged my memory – a flash of yellow hair – and remembered why I'd been here before. Naruto's house, just along one of these roads, was where we'd held Sasuke's 20th. I picked up my pace a little to see if the hair did in fact belong to Sasuke's best friend, and when I reached the corner he'd turned just moments before I was relieved to find that I was right.

A little way down the street Naruto was happily meandering along, chatting loudly to a girl with long blue hair. I won't comment on the colour, somebody with pink hair has absolutely no right to find other people's hair unusual. And actually, when the girl turned a little to say something, I saw that it suited her. At least, it certainly helped to offset the blush that I could see spread across her face even from half a street away!

I hadn't decided whether or not I was going to approach Naruto, I wouldn't like to interrupt a date, but as I was watching he got a little ahead of the girl he was with, and when he turned back to say something to her he caught sight of me and started waving.

"Sakuraaaaa! Heeeeey!"

I laughed and lifted a hand to wave back, "Hi!"

Naruto said something quickly to his girlfriend and then came bounding over, "Hi! Wow! What are you doing round here? It's so cool to see you! Did you get my text?"

Oops, I'd forgotten to reply to his message. Ah well, he didn't seem the type to bear a grudge, "I'm just wandering around really, I did get your text but completely forgot to answer. I meant to, it'd be great to hang out sometime."

"Great! Are you busy now?"

"Uh, no," I hurried to tell him that no, I was not a complete loser desperate for friends to hang out with and no, I didn't come here with the intention of finding him and no, I would not like to crash his date, but he'd already grabbed me by the elbow and dragged me over to the blue-haired girl.

He slung an arm around her, "Hinata, Sakura. Sakura, Hinata. You guys might remember each other from school, we were in the same year."

"Y-yes," Hinata said hesitantly, her voice faint, "I think we had some lessons together."

"Probably," I admitted, "but my memory is terrible. Nice to meet you again though."

"Right," Naruto announced, "so what do you say we all hang out together?"

"Oh, I couldn't possibly," I said, finding myself starting to blush a little, "I wouldn't want to-"

"Wouldn't want to what? We were just going out for ramen, it's gonna be so good!"

"I think you should... definitely come," Hinata added, without the slightest hint of disappointment or resentment in her tone.

So, with the prospect of an alternative Saturday night spent walking the streets like some kind of crazy, or going home and watching Ino try to eat her new boyfriend's face, I gave in and agreed to go out for ramen. And tried not to feel like too much of a third wheel.

Actually, to be fair, both Naruto and Hinata seemed more than happy to have me along. We went to a little place a few roads down from the station and Naruto spent almost twenty minutes talking us through his various favourite items on the menu.

Once ordering was out of the way we turned onto more typical conversation topics, "So what've you been up to then, Sakura?" was Naruto's first question.

"Since when, since we organised that party for Sasuke?"

"Yeah, you were studying medicine then weren't you?"

I nodded, "Yep, and that's pretty much all I've been doing. It's really intensive, I don't have the time – or energy – for anything else a lot of the time."

"That must be hard," Hinata commented, barely audible over the noise of the other customers' chatter.

"Well, it can be," I smiled, "but it's worth it. The course is fascinating, and I've wanted to be a doctor for years."

Hinata smiled shyly back, "It must be nice to know so clearly... exactly what you want to do."

"You'll figure it out eventually," Naruto said to Hinata, "and until then you can just enjoy looking at all your options!"

She blushed a little and nodded, saved from having to reply by the fact that the arrival of our food.

Almost a whole minute went by without talk as we all started eating, but then Naruto piped up again.

"So how long has the idiot been gone?"

"'Scuse me?" I mumbled, hurrying to swallow a mouthful of noodles.

"I mean Sasuke. He had to move up sometime this week, didn't he?"

"Oh, yeah. He left on Tuesday."

Naruto shook his head, "I can't believe he didn't call me. Well, I can believe it, he never calls me. But it's still annoying! Have you spoken to him since?"

"A couple of times," I said vaguely, not really wanting to admit that all we'd exchanged was a text or two, "he's pretty busy, you know, with setting up in his new place and learning the ropes. Orochimaru's company is structured slightly differently."

I noticed Hinata watching the conversation in silence and tried to change the topic, "But anyway, how often do you guys come here?"

Hinata instantly blushed fiercely and looked down, Naruto answered, "Oh, I come at least once a week. This place does the best ramen in town, maybe even in the country! But hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Are you pissed off with Sasuke for just going off like that?"

"Uh," I took another mouthful of noodles to buy some time, "I don't know. His work is really important to him."

"I'd never leave behind someone I cared about for work," Naruto announced, waving his chopsticks to underline his point, "would you, Hinata?"

Right on cue, Hinata turned bright red again, but she did come out with a firm "No."

Naruto nodded, satisfied, and raised his bowl to tip the last remnants of his meal into his mouth. I pushed what was left of mine around the bowl for a little while, appetite pretty much gone, and conversation moved on to less complicated topics until Hinata finished her food and we settled our bill.

"How late is it?" Hinata asked as we left, and Naruto replied with a vague wave of his hand.

I checked my phone, "Wow, um, it's coming up to half nine. I should really get back home, I have a load of work to do tomorrow."

"That went fast!" Naruto said, stretching.

"You can say that again," I hurried a text to Ino, just in case she was wondering where I'd vanished to, "I wasn't expecting to be out past eight really."

"It was nice," Hinata offered, and I found myself nodding sincerely as I pressed 'send'.

"Very nice," Naruto agreed, "Sakura, you should know that if you want to hang out, any time, I'm pretty much always free."

Checking for Hinata's reaction to this, in case she thought I was looking to make a move on Naruto, I chanced a simple nod-and-shrug combination.

"I'd like to meet up with you guys again sometime, my flat-mate's not exactly available very often and I have a lot of empty evenings," I suddenly grimaced, realising how pathetic and lonely that sounded, "but on the other hand, I'm sure I'll find something to-"

"Well, you've got my number," Naruto interrupted with a wide grin, "so text me. I've been friends with Sasuke for years, so if nothing else we can swap stories."

"Cool, well, bye then," I gave an awkward wave and headed off before I could embarrass myself any further.

Still, it had to be said, it had been a good evening. Hinata seemed sweet, if quiet, and Naruto was entertaining, if bizarrely forward, and hey – anything to fill up my newly acquired spare time!

When I got back to the cramped two-bedroom flat that Ino and I called home, my lovely friend was waiting up with a mug of hot chocolate.

"Hey! How was your night?"

I took the drink gratefully and sipped, almost scalding my tongue on the first mouthful, "It was really good actually."

It might have been a little difficult to understand, since I had my tongue out for the benefit of the cold air at the time, but Ino seemed to know what I was saying.

"Cool, so, who were you with? Where? What did you get up to? I want details!"

Laughing, I put the hot chocolate down on the floor next to the sofa while I talked Ino through the ins and outs of my evening.

She managed to hold off on interrupting, a rarity for her, until I referred to Hinata as Naruto's girlfriend for the third or fourth time.

"She's not," Ino put in as I paused for breath, completely throwing me off my train of thought.

"Huh?"

"She's not. Hinata's not Naruto's girlfriend."

"Sorry," I tilted my head to one side, confused, "how do you know?"

"Because one of my dad's best friends used to work with Hinata's dad and there was this party thing which my dad dragged me along to for no real good reason, but Hinata was there and I was chatting with this other guy who's a friend of hers and Naruto showed up to drop something off, or pick something up – I can't really remember, and the guy I was talking to told me how Hinata had been, like, in love with Naruto since they were kids but had never got up the courage to tell him about it, and he was completely oblivious. So."

Ino looked triumphant, but I was still sceptical, "How long ago was this? They could have easily got together since then."

"No," Ino said confidently, "I'd have heard. I hear everything."

Cue another eye-roll, "Sure," I drained the last of my drink, looking thoughtfully from the cup to Ino, sitting at the other end of the sofa. "How much do you love me?"

"Oh, lots, why?"

I waved my empty mug at her, "Enough to make me some more of your super-special hot chocolate?"

"What's in it for me?"

"My eternal devotion?"

"Pssht, got that already."

I laughed, "How about a hug?"

Ino was about to reply when my phone rang, and a quick glance at the caller ID confirmed what I'd been hoping.

"Sasuke?" Ino asked, catching the look in my eye.

"Was it so obvious?" I smiled at her and stood up, heading to my room as I answered the call.

"Hey Sasuke,"

"Hi. How are you?"

"Oh, not bad," reaching my room, I bumped the door closed with my hip and collapsed onto the bed with a sigh, "how about you? Been busy?"

"Yes, very. I'm doing well, things are moving fast here and I'm already in the thick of things. This is where everything is happening, it's where I need to be. Where I probably should have been months ago."

"Good, I'm glad it's going well. Are you all settled into your new place?"

"I had everything unpacked a couple of days ago, but I'm not spending much time at home."

"You're making sure to get enough sleep, aren't you?" I sat up, concerned, "I know what you get like when you're absorbed in something, but you have to take care of yourself."

"I do," Sasuke's voice had the impatient edge I was so familiar with, "I am."

It made me smile, having the same conversation we often had when he got particularly into a project, "I know, I'm sure you are, but it's my job to worry about that sort of thing."

"Mm."

There was a pause then, as I tried to figure out whether that was an impatient 'mm' or a tolerant, even affectionate, 'mm' – it was tough to tell without the usual visual clues. Then I heard some shouting in the background from Sasuke's end and he let out a short sigh.

"Sounds like something is kicking off here again, I'll ha-"

He was interrupted by a high pitched and irritable shrieking, loud enough to actually make me take the phone away from my ear for a moment.

"Sasuke?" I ventured, "Everything okay there?"

"I'm going to have to go and sort this out," his voice was completely without inflection, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say he was probably not best pleased, "goodnight Sakura."

"Good-" he hung up, cutting me off mid-word. I looked at the phone in my hand for a second before chucking it on the bed beside me and lying back again. "Love you too, missing you, goodnight," I addressed the ceiling, kicking my shoes off.

There was a knock at the door and Ino poked her head round, "Got that hot chocolate you ordered earlier."

"Thanks," I twitched my head in the direction of the bedside table and she set the mug down before perching next to my feet on the edge of the mattress.

"So how is he?"

"Busy, stressed, only there a few days and already overworking himself. Basically, much the same as usual!"

Ino laid a hand on my leg, "He'll be fine. He's probably in his element up there."

"I know," I rolled over onto my side, facing away from Ino. "I miss him. Is that really pathetic? He's been gone less than a week and I miss him. We used to go a whole seven days without seeing each other sometimes, just because neither of us had the time to spare, but I never felt this sense of distance before."

"Think that might be because now there is _actual distance_ involved?" Ino's tone was only very mildly sarcastic, but I kicked her for it anyway. "Ouch! All I'm saying is that now you know that you couldn't call him up for an emergency meeting, whereas before if you'd started to miss him in a big way you could have done. It's not really that difficult to figure out."

"You can tell you're training for the psych ward," I grumbled.

"I'm still right," she said smugly, "but seriously, there are ways to get round this. Call him more, write to him, text him with updates, just try to make sure you feel connected to him and what's going on in his life, and let him know what's happening with you."

Ino stood to leave the room, offering me a final pat on the leg before she did so, "and if you need a hug, you've always got me. This is hard, but it will get easier."

I heard her pause by the door and rolled over to give her a quick grin before she left, "Night Ino, thanks."

"No problem. What are friends for if not free pseudo-therapy?" She poked her tongue out at me and headed off to her own room, leaving me to stare at the ceiling and think about how I was going to adapt.

One thing I was sure of: after tonight, I was done with the moping.


End file.
